With only a couple of weeks until we have a flight back to the UK from Buenos Aires we continued heading South through Brazil. Next stop was a small city called Curitiba where we spent a pleasant couple of days in and around the centre.. lots of shops here so we both bought some new clothes. There is an indoor arcade full of bars and restaurants that is open 24hrs so we had a few beers out as well. We then took the train to Paranagua - a winding journey through thickly forested hills and across high bridges. A very scenic journey but we didn't realise that on weekdays the train stops halfway (after the best views) and doesnt go any further !! So after waiting at a little village for an hour we eventually caught a bus the rest of the way. Paranagua is a small port town with a nice redeveloped area by the docks.. had a nice afternoon in the sunshine but not a great deal to see so we caught a late afternoon bus on to Florianopolis. The city of Flopanopanopolis is half on the mainland and half on Ilha Santa Caterina, joined by a causeway

. After a night in the town centre due to our midnight arrival we headed out to one of the beaches at Barra Da Lagoa. There we bagged a beachfront apartment with great views and for only 40reais a night (9 UK pounds). We stayed here for 5 nights and had a fabulous time - most of the days were hot and sunny and we spent a lot of time lazing on the beach. On the day we decided to have surfing lessons it was cloudy and raining a bit but that wasn't such a bad thing as the water was still warm. We put on some very attractive wetsuits and did a warm-up on the beach which was a bit like football training back home. Our instructors then got us to draw surfboards in the sand and practice jumping up on them - much to the amusement of other people on the beach. The practice paid off though and we were soon in the water jumping up on our real surfboards and riding the waves in - great fun!! On the Saturday night we went into the nearby town of Lagoa with a few others. There we had some Mexican food and a few beers and then ended up in a small local bar where Mandy and Monique were the centre of attention dancing with all the locals. A couple of days later we had some more surf lessons in some huge waves - which makes things a little more difficult! We then celebrated our last night with a huge seafood platter of fish and three types of shrimp which were all gorgeous and then Detective Juan - who had tracked us down from El Calafate - arived just in time to finish up the mounds of remaining food. Very sad to leave here as we have had a wonderful time but its another night bus next as we head South to Uruguay...